Alistair Young @cerebrate@qoto.org

Just because a starship is a giant XFEL with a hull wrapped around it doesn't mean it should be named the _Lase-y Boy_.

I am the sort of man who says cyanoacrylate when he means superglue, and you're all going to have to live with that.

I am the sort of man who says cyanoacrylate when he means superglue, and you're all going to have to live with that.

Cubiko and the CFL55-33 Laser Module

How I made my laser not slip in the spindle clamp.

https://open.substack.com/pub/randombytes/p/cubiko-and-the-cfl55-33-laser-module

#cnc #laser #cubiko

The fundamental problem with nationalism is that stupid, savage barbarians in in-group are, if anything, even more contemptible than stupid, savage barbarians in out-group.

One can always redefine in-group to exclude all members of that class, but then it sure ain't nationalism any more.

Damned [coethnics]! They ruined [ethny]!

Yes, I know the argument that the mass of non-technical people need to be able to install various apps to protect their privacy, avoid government surveillance, etc., etc.

But be serious, people. If you can't figure out how to root your phone, there is no way in _hell_ they can find, assess, and run a secure communications app in a way that doesn't put everyone they talk to at risk.

Security theater is worse than no security, especially when you don't know that it's security theater, or don't understand what security theater _is_.

Basically, permitting sideloading, rooting your phone, and unwalling the garden should require a certain degree of technical competence, even if it's only the ability to Google The Magic Incantation.

The arguments over restricting sideloading of apps are fascinating to me.

By nature, I am someone who hates the ides of restricting sideloading, because I am guaranteed to want to run whatever I want, including my own handcrafted software, on any device I own. I am exactly who they have in mind when they argue that OS developers should not be able to control what you can run on your device.

But I am also someone who understands that there *is* a perfectly reasonable argument for it, insofar as a brief observation of normie users should make it obvious that closed app ecosystems are what stands between them and installing 53 silly little games and desktop toys that also mine bitcoin/serve child porn/hack elections for Russia/steal secrets for the CCP/DDoS shit for 4chan.

This is not an easy balance to strike, especially if the penalty for getting it wrong is having to explain to Congress what a Com-Pew-Tah is and why they shouldn't fine you umpty-billion dollars for not implementing Magical AI-Powered Anti-Bad-Stuff tools.

Photons are in the eye of the beholder.

God-Poking Tank - https://eldraeverse.com/2025/08/24/god-poking-tank/

Have fun down in the phlegm-pit.

#eldraeverse #scienceFiction #writing

Unconventional Courtesy

https://eldraeverse.com/2025/08/21/unconventional-courtesy/

Allowing for frequent visitors.

#writing #eldraeverse #scienceFiction

…you know, while it’s nice to have something in common with J. R. R. Tolkien, I never thought that thing would be spending an irritating amount of time denying that I have written anything that’s an allegory.

Applicable, yes. Allegorical, no.

#writing

I'll have a 2" x 4" x 4' x 4s, please.

Proper technical term or not, "dimensional lumber" totally sounds like the stuff the Time Lords use to frame TARDISes.

With regard to the various people I have seen about the place trying to ban lab-grown meat to protect the farmers, and various other iterations of protectionism:

I am begging businesses to understand that if you skip over the steps of offering a better product and/or convincing me that your product is better, and instead go for tariffs, subsidies, or regulating the competition away, then I will make it my mission in life to burn down your business model, piss on the ashes, and crush your puny, entitled soul into spiritual neutronium.

Just sayin'.

Simple tools: a widget to level the bit onto during tool changes to avoid losing your workpiece zero.

#cnc

Ah, the soft machine-screaming of manufacturing in progress.

Today, from the "what the deep-fried fuck" files...